Gikeiki Summary
The Gikeiki ("Chronicle of Yoshitsune") is a Japanese war tale, thought to have been compiled around the Muromachi period, that tells the life of Minamoto no Yoshitsune. What sets it apart is that it says very little about his famous battles against the Taira (Heike) clan. Instead, it focuses on his boyhood as Ushiwaka and on his flight after his older brother, Minamoto no Yoritomo, turned against him.
After his father, Minamoto no Yoshitomo, is killed in the Heiji Rebellion, the young Ushiwaka is sent to Kurama Temple, where he is called Shanaō. When he learns that he is a son of the Minamoto (Genji) clan, he trains in the martial arts every night in the Sōjō Valley. He then travels to Hiraizumi in the far north (Ōshū) with Kichiji the Gold Merchant. On the way he drives off a band of robbers and comes of age, taking the name Yoshitsune. Back in Kyoto, he reads the secret book of military strategy kept by Ki'ichi Hōgen, and defeats Musashibō Benkei, a wild warrior monk who has been collecting a thousand swords, making him his retainer.
Yoshitsune joins his brother Yoritomo's uprising and destroys the Taira, but slander turns Yoritomo against him, and even the Koshigoe Letter fails to win his pardon. The story then follows the night attack at Horikawa, the storm at Daimotsu Bay, Yoshitsune's parting from Lady Shizuka on Mount Yoshino, Satō Tadanobu standing in for his lord, Shizuka's dance in Kamakura, and the Nyoi ferry crossing, where Benkei strikes his own master. Disguised as mountain ascetics (yamabushi), the group escapes to Ōshū. The tale ends at Koromogawa, where Benkei dies on his feet and Yoshitsune takes his own life.
Story summary
Episode 1Why the Temple Boy Sneaks Out at Night — Ushiwakamaru at Mount Kurama
In the mangaThe Legend of Yoshitsune, Episode 1. At a mountain temple, a boy named Shanaō is loved by everyone. One night a traveling monk visits him and reveals the truth: Shanaō is the son of the great Genji general Minamoto no Yoshitomo, who was murdered by a retainer hungry for a Heike reward. The monk hands him his father's sword. From that day on, Shanaō lives a double life: a model student by day, and by night a lone swordsman training in Sōjōgatani, the valley of the tengu.
In the original mythThe Gikeiki ("Chronicle of Yoshitsune") is a Japanese war tale by an unknown author, put together in the Muromachi period (roughly the 14th–15th centuries). Unlike tales of great battles, it is mostly interested in the hero's childhood and his later years as a fugitive. Episode 1 of the manga follows the opening part of Book One.
Episode 2The Bandits Picked the Wrong Guest — Yoshitsune's Coming of Age at Kagami Inn
In the mangaWhen Shanaō hears that a great lord in the far north is waiting to welcome a young Minamoto prince, he slips away from Mount Kurama in the spring of his sixteenth year without telling a soul. At the Kagami Inn he single-handedly drives off a bandit raid. Then, gazing at his own acolyte's reflection in the inn's old mirror, he travels on to Atsuta Shrine. With no grown-up there to give him a name, he holds his own coming-of-age ceremony and names himself Minamoto no Kurō Yoshitsune.
In the original mythThe Gikeiki ("The Chronicle of Yoshitsune") is a Japanese war tale by an unknown author, generally thought to have taken shape in the early Muromachi period, around the 14th to 15th century. It follows the life of Minamoto no Yoshitsune, one of the most famous heroes in Japanese history. The episode adapted here comes from the end of Book One and the start of Book Two, and it tells how a boy hidden away in a…
Episode 3He Came for the Book, Not for Me — Kiichi Hogen and the Tiger Scroll
In the mangaA young man who lost his father to war plants himself at the estate of the diviner Ki'ichi Hōgen, hoping to read a secret book of war from across the sea. Hōgen's daughter falls for him and decides on her own to smuggle the forbidden book out. Armed with its lessons and her protective charm, he turns an ambush against Tankai and his men. As they part, he gives his true name for the first time, Yoshitsune, and she stays behind, holding that name close.
In the original mythThis episode comes from the Gikeiki ("The Chronicle of Yoshitsune"), a war tale by an unknown author, probably put together in the Muromachi period (roughly the 14th to 15th centuries). It follows Minamoto no Yoshitsune, the young warrior who would later become one of Japan's most famous generals. At this point in the story, he is living far in the north under the protection of Fujiwara no Hidehira, the lord of…
Episode 4The Baby Born With a Full Set of Teeth — The Birth of Benkei and Mount Shosha
In the mangaEpisode 4 (19 pages). Born with a full set of teeth, a boy feared as a "demon child" is driven off Mount Hiei and names himself Musashibō Benkei. When he is mocked on Mount Shosha, his fury ends in a great fire. With nowhere left to belong, he vows to take a thousand swords from the warriors who pass through the capital.
In the original mythThe Gikeiki (roughly, "The Chronicle of Yoshitsune") is a Japanese war tale by an unknown author. It is generally thought to have taken shape in the early Muromachi period, around the late 14th or early 15th century. Most of it follows Minamoto no Yoshitsune, the brilliant and ill-fated samurai commander. In Book Three, however, it stops to explain where his most famous companion came from: Musashibō Benkei, the…
Episode 5The Flute Boy His Blade Couldn't Touch — Benkei's Thousand Swords: Meeting Ushiwakamaru
In the mangaBenkei, a hot-tempered monk who has stolen 999 swords, sets out one night to claim his thousandth—only to find he can't land a single blow on a flute-playing boy. The next night he tries again at the temple on the cliff. What will he find in defeat?
In the original mythThe meeting of Benkei and Yoshitsune is one of the best-known scenes in Japanese legend. Its main literary source is the Gikeiki ("The Chronicle of Yoshitsune"), a war tale by an unknown author. It is usually thought to have taken shape in the early Muromachi period, around the fourteenth or fifteenth century. The Gikeiki follows the life of Minamoto no Yoshitsune, a famous samurai commander, and this episode comes…
Episode 6Each Win Pushed His Brother Further Away — The Reunion at Kisegawa and the Koshigoe Letter
In the mangaWhen Yoshitsune hears his brother Yoritomo has risen against the Heike, he rushes to join him, and the two brothers, meeting for the first time, weep together. But after winning battle after battle and wiping out the Heike, Yoshitsune finds the road to his brother barred.
In the original mythIn 1180, Minamoto no Yoritomo, the eldest surviving son of a defeated warrior clan, had spent about twenty years in exile in Izu. That year he finally raised an army against the Taira (also called the Heike), the clan that had crushed his father. With help from local allies such as Hojo Tokimasa, his father-in-law, he survived an early defeat, gathered the warriors of eastern Japan, and made Kamakura his base. The…
Episode 7Assassins Came. The Hero Slept. — The Night Raid at Horikawa (Shizuka Gozen)
In the mangaYoritomo sends the assassin Tosabō to kill his brother, and Yoshitsune accepts Tosabō's false oath because he wants so badly to trust his brother. That night, it is Lady Shizuka, the famous dancer, who senses danger first. She wakes him, straps him into his armor, holds up the lights in the dark, and finally sets the mansion ablaze to call Benkei and the others to the rescue.
In the original mythThis episode comes from the Gikeiki ("The Chronicle of Yoshitsune"), a war tale written down in the Muromachi period (roughly the 14th–15th centuries) by an unknown author. It follows Minamoto no Yoshitsune, the brilliant young general who helped his half-brother Minamoto no Yoritomo win the Genpei War. By the time of this chapter in Book Four, the brothers have fallen out. Yoritomo, now ruling the warrior class…
Episode 8He Abandoned the Capital to Save It — The Storm at Daimotsu Bay (Yoshitsune's Flight)
In the mangaHunted by his own brother, Yoshitsune refuses to turn the capital into a battlefield and flees west, setting sail from Daimotsu Bay. But a violent storm scatters his fleet, and only a handful are washed back to shore. Having lost everything, the survivors set out for Mount Yoshino.
In the original mythThe Gikeiki ("Chronicle of Yoshitsune") is an anonymous Japanese war tale thought to have taken shape in the early Muromachi period, roughly the fourteenth to fifteenth century. The famous Tale of the Heike celebrates Minamoto no Yoshitsune's victories in battle. The Gikeiki looks elsewhere: it tells of his boyhood as Ushiwaka and of his later fall. Episode 8 of the manga follows Book Four, in the chapters about…
Episode 9The Yoshitsune They Faced Wasn't Him — Mount Yoshino (Shizuka's Parting and Sato Tadanobu)
In the mangaOn snowbound Mount Yoshino, Yoshitsune decides to send Shizuka back to the capital to save her from the warrior monks hunting him. But the escorts she trusted abandon her in the snow, while on the same mountain Satō Tadanobu dons his lord's armor and name, and makes a lone stand among the cedars.
In the original mythThe Gikeiki ("Chronicle of Yoshitsune") is an anonymous Japanese war tale, generally dated to the early Muromachi period (around the 14th–15th century). Rather than retelling the great battles of the Genpei War, it follows the life of Minamoto no Yoshitsune, the brilliant young general, and focuses especially on his childhood and on his flight after his victories. Book 5 covers one of the most famous parts of that…
Episode 10The Woman He Trusted Sold Him Out — Sato Tadanobu: The Siege at Horikawa
In the mangaOn snowy Yoshino, Tadanobu posed as his lord to cover his escape and survived. In Kyoto he turns to a woman he once loved, but she betrays him and a huge force surrounds him. Holed up in his lord's old Horikawa mansion, Tadanobu chooses to die the way his brother Tsuginobu did at Yashima.
In the original mythThe Gikeiki (Chronicle of Yoshitsune) is a Japanese war tale by an unknown author, generally thought to have taken shape in the early Muromachi period, around the late 1300s to early 1400s. Unlike the more famous Tale of the Heike, it skips most of the great battles against the Taira clan. It focuses instead on Minamoto no Yoshitsune, the brilliant young general, in his youth and in his later flight after his…
Episode 11She Sang of Him to the Men Hunting Him — Lady Shizuka's Dance at Tsurugaoka
In the mangaShizuka parted from Yoshitsune on a snowy mountain as he fled his brother Yoritomo. Now she is captured and sent to Kamakura. She refuses to say where Yoshitsune is, and the baby she gives birth to is taken from her. With only her dance and her pride left, she is ordered to dance at the shrine for Yoritomo and Masako. There, in the heart of enemy territory, she boldly sings of her longing for the man she loves.
In the original mythLady Shizuka (Shizuka Gozen) was a shirabyōshi, a professional dancer and singer who performed in male court costume, and the most celebrated performer in Kyoto. She was also the beloved companion of Minamoto no Yoshitsune, the brilliant young general who helped his half-brother Minamoto no Yoritomo defeat the Taira clan, only to be branded a traitor by that same brother. Earlier in the Gikeiki (The Chronicle of…
Episode 12Strike Your Master, or Lose Him — The Nyoi Crossing (Benkei Strikes Yoshitsune)
In the mangaHunted by his own brother, Yoshitsune and his band disguise themselves as mountain monks and head north. At the Nyoi Crossing, his lord is about to be exposed, so Benkei does the unthinkable and beats him with a fan in front of everyone. Later, in the snowy mountains, a newborn baby grips the very hand that struck him.
In the original mythMinamoto no Yoshitsune was the brilliant young general who led his clan to victory over the rival Taira. Soon after that victory he became a hunted man, because his elder brother Yoritomo, head of the Minamoto clan, turned against him. The Gikeiki ("The Chronicle of Yoshitsune") is an anonymous war tale written in the Muromachi period, roughly the 14th to 15th centuries. Its seventh book tells how Yoshitsune, often…
Episode 13No One Passes Until My Lord Is Done — Benkei's Standing Death at Koromogawa
In the mangathe series finale. In Hiraizumi, Yoshitsune finally finds peace. But after Hidehira dies, Yasuhira's huge army attacks the manor on the Koromo River. Until his lord finishes reading his sutra, Benkei stands alone at the gate and does not move.
In the original mythThe Gikeiki ("Chronicle of Yoshitsune") is a war tale by an unknown author. It is generally thought to have taken shape in the Muromachi period (roughly the 14th–15th centuries). Most earlier war epics focus on battles. The Gikeiki instead follows one life: that of Minamoto no Yoshitsune, the brilliant young general, from his boyhood at Kurama temple, where he was called Ushiwaka and later Shanaō, to his tragic…